News Bites for Nov. 20.09

TransLink has cancelled its plan for a bus to connect south Langley to White Rock and the Township council isn’t happy about it.
Only a fraction of the motorists using the Golden Ears bridge, eight per cent, are taking advantage of the bargain-basement transponder rate of $2.75 per crossing. The vast majority of bridge users, 87 per cent, are paying premium prices, the top rate of $3.90 charged on vehicles that don’t have transponders.
A new director has been picked to serve on TransLink’s board. W. John Dawson, a retired partner with accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, was appointed to a three-year term by the regional mayors’ council. Dawson, an audit specialist, had for years advised Crown corporations including BC Rail and ICBC and had been vice-chair of the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission.